Why was there two Ancient Bibles?

Recently I was asked why there were two ancient Bibles, the Septuagint (LXX) and the Masoretic text?  I thought about these inquiries and I decided that instead of individually answering these questions I I would answer them both with a blog post.


Back in ancient Israel (322 B.C.E.), the Jewish people of Israel began moving to Alexandria, Egypt.  These ancient Jews moved west to Alexandria for several reasons.  Some moved because of the continued turmoil in Israel,  This exodus west was after the Babylonian Exile and some may have felt safer there.  With the new Persian overlord Cyrus taking over Babylon in 539 B.C.E. many Jews continued to have the freedom to return to Israel, in particular Jerusalem.  Yet,  some Jews may have felt vulnerable in the Holy Land.  Though it was 200 years after Cyrus's rule the memory of exile and destruction by both the Assyrians and the Babylonians where fresh in the minds of Jewish population.  Remember it was only three generations removed from the return of Babylonian exile.  Grandparents would be sharing the stories of exile with their grandchildren.  Another reason for the Jewish population moving to Egypt was because of the economic conditions in Zion.  Drought and famine may have existed.  The final reason for the shift of Jewish homes, and I feel this is the greatest reason, is because that is what God intended.  Thus there where three Jewish centers in the ancient world; Jerusalem, Babylon and Alexandria.


But because the Jews of Alexandria lived outside Israel two things happened.  First they became Hellenistic, or in other words they culturally became a hybrid of Jews and Greeks.  The second thing that happened to these Greek-like Jews is they lost their ability to speak and read Hebrew and Aramaic.  It was because of this that we had two ancient Bibles.

The Septuagint (from the Latin word septuaginta meaning seventy) was a Greek version of the Bible created during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (ca. 285-246 BCE) in Alexandria, Egypt for Diaspora (dispersed) Jews.   It was here that seventy Jewish elders gathered together to translate the Hebrew Bible into Greek.  The same books of the Bible where all placed in the LXX with the addition of the Apocrypha (ie. Tobit and the books of the Maccabees).  The other Bible, the one used in Israel and Babylon, the Masoretic text, remained in it's original language, Hebrew and Aramaic.  The same books remained in this Bible version.  The Apocrypha was not included.


The Jews of Alexandria held mixed views of the LXX.  Some thought the Bible was too Greek and took away from the original text.  Other, including historian Philo of Alexandria believed that the LXX was divinely inspired.  It was the LXX that later became the base of today's Christian Bibles.


Thus we come back to the question:  Are both Bibles or just one version the true Word of God?  The answer is simple, both Bibles are the inspired Word of God.  The LXX, which became the Christian Bible (including the King James) was and is the version that has led more people to Yeshua then any other Bible.  The Masoretic text is the Bible that remained in Israel and is thus the Bible Jesus would have used.  God used both versions for His great plan of salvation.


Well, I hope that answers the questions that were posed to me.  


Blessings.